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THREE HISTORIC FLAGS 



THREE SEPTEMBER VICTORIES. 



A PAPER READ BEFORE 
THE NEW-EXGLAKI) HISTORIC, GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, 
JULY 9, 1873, 



By GEO. HENRY PREBLE. 



Illttatratefr fottlj Jeliotgpeg from % t\m jflsgs. 



AND 






THREE HISTORIC FLAGS 



THREE 'SEPTEMBER VICTORIES. 



A PAPER BEAD BEFORE 
THE NEW-ENGLAND HISTORIC, GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, 
JULY 9, 1873, 



By GEO. HENRY PREBLE. 



Illustrate foitjj fj eliotgjjpes from % %w Jlags. 



BOSTON: A 
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 
1 87 4. 



One Hundred Copies. 



[Reprinted, with additions, from The Historical and Genealogical Register 

for January, 1874.] 



Press of David Clapp & Son : 
Boston. 



THREE HISTORIC! FLAGS AND THREE 
SEPTEMBER VICTORIES. 



^J^jpT is a pleasure to have the privilege of exhibiting to tins society , 
this afternoon, through the kindness of their owners (two of 
6 °^ / 3 whom are present), three interesting mementos of our national 
history and victories :• — The nag of the Bon Homme Richard? 
1779 ; the flag of the U. S. Brig Enterprise, 1813; and the flag 
of Fort Mcllenry, 1814. I regret their introduction has not fallen 
into more able hands ; but in obedience to the behests of my asso- 
ciates of this society, I will endeavor to explain to you their history 
and satisfy you as to their authenticity. The mute voices of their 
battle and time-stained remains, speak more eloquently than can 
words of mine. 



I. 

THE FLAG OF THE BON HOMME RICHARD, 1779. 

Your attention is first called to the flag suspended over my head, 
which, though the smallest in size, from its age and history is worthy 
of the first place. It was worn by the Bon Homme Richard 
ninety-four years ago, during the action with the Serapis, September 
23, 1779, and there is reasonable if not convincing circumstantial 
evidence for the claim that it. was the first flag bearing the stars and 
stripes ever hoisted over an American vessel of war, and the first 
that was ever saluted by a foreign naval power. 

The story of the flag is this : — About ten days before the battle 
between the Richard , and the Serapis, Commodore Jones cap- 
tured a British man-of-war and her prize, an American armed 
ship called the Kitty, commanded by Capt. Philip Stafford. The 
Englishman had put his prisoners in irons, and on their re-capture, 
Jones, with retributive justice, transferred those bracelets to the 
officers and crew of the British vessel. On their release, the entire 
crew of the Kitty volunteered to serve on board the Bon Homme 
Richard in revenge for the treatment they had received from their 
British captors. 



4 



Among these volunteers was a young man named James Bayard 
Stafford, a nephew of the commander of the Kitty, and the father of 
the present patriotic owner of this flag. Being an educated and ac- 
tive young man, he received an appointment as an officer on board 
the Richard. 

When the battle was raging most furiously this flag was shot away, 
and young Stafford jumped into the sea and recovered it, and was 
engaged in replacing it when he was cut down by an officer of the 
Serapis. His left shoulder blade was cut in two, so that in after 
years the bone separated, leaving his arm helpless, and causing him 
intense suffering. 

When the Bon Homme Richard was sinking, the flag was seized by 
a sailor and transferred by Paul Jones to the Serapis, and thence by 
him to the Alliance, when he took command of that frigate at the Tex el. 
The Has: remained on board the Alliance until the close of the revo- 
lutionary war, when the vessel was sold to Robert Morris, the great 
financier of those times, and was fitted under his auspices for the 
East India trade. Shortly after her sale, the secretary of the marine 
committee wrote to Lieut. Stafford, that by the advice of Commodore 
John Barry, and in consideration of his services in recovering the flag 
after it had been shot away in the action between the Bon Homme 
Richard and Serapis, the committee had decided to present to him this 
flag, the medicine chest of the Richard, and a Tower musket taken 
from the Serapis. These relics w r ere preserved by Lieut. Stafford 
until the day of his death, August 19, 1838, and by his widow until 
her death, August 9, 1861, when they came into the possession of 
his only daughter, Miss Sarah Smith Stafford, their present owner. 

About 1690, her great-grandfather, John Howard Stafford, 1 was 
sent with .troops to garrison the first fort in Norfolk, Va. It is said 
that finding its location unhealthy, he removed the troops to a point 
of land near Norfolk, which bore the name of Point Comfort in the 
early days of Virginia, is so called on Capt, John Smith's map, and 
for many years has been known as " Old Point Comfort," 

His troops were after a while transferred to Wexford, Ireland, where 
his wife died ; and he married Mrs. Catherine Barry, a widow with 
three sons, one of whom became the celebrated Commodore John 
Barry of the continental navy. This connection with the Staffords 
accounts for his interest in James Bayard Stafford, whom he ap- 
pointed an acting lieutenant on board the Alliance, when he com- 
manded that vessel, and afterward recommended to the marine com- 
mittee as the proper custodian of this flag. 

1 Miss Stafford has some ancestors and relatives to be proud of. On the maternal side 
she claims descent from old Michael Bacon, a captain of yeomanry, well known to our Puritan 
annals, who emigrated to this country about 16-.0, and lived on what is now Mount Auburn, 
Cambridge, Mass. Two of her mother's uncles were killed in the battle of Lexington : 
Lieut. John Bacon of Needham, and Lieut. John Smith of Natick, whose trusty swords are 
now in her possession. Their deaths are recorded in Gordon's History of the Revolution. 
At the battle of White Plains, her maternal grandfather was mortally wounded, and is 
buried in the " God's Acre " of the Old South Meeting- House in Natick. 

Her father was the grandson of John Howard Stafford and Amelia Fairfax, both the 
children of British officers. 



I learn from Miss Stafford that she was personally acquainted with 
several of the crew of the Bon Homme Richard, and that she con- 
tinues with patriotic devotion to care for their graves. They often 
called upon her father when living, and were shown this flag, for 
which they expressed the deepest reverence and not unfrequently 
shed tears, as it brought to mind the perils they had shared under it. 
One of these sailors, Thomas Johnson, 1 a Norwegian, who assisted 
Jones in lashing the Richard to the Serapis, and was probably the 
last survivor of that celebrated combat, died at the U. S. Naval 
Asylum, Philadelphia, on the 12th of July, 1851, aged 93 years, 
where he had been for many years a pensioner, and was known by 
the sobriquet of " Paul Jones." When shown this flag he recognized 
it as the flag of the Richard. Miss Stafford was a frequent visitor to 
him while living, and annually visits his grave now he is dead : 
a tribute the humble sailor does not often receive, whatever his 
services. 2 Miss Stafford says her father was enthusiastically attached 
to this flag, and often said to his visitors that the British Lion had 
been made to crouch to its stars and stripes. 

1 His name is given as George Johnson in the roll of the Bon Homme Bichard's crew, from 
official sources, printed in Sherburne's Life of Paul Jones. 

2 According to the records of the U. S. Naval Asylum in Philadelphia, Thomas Johnson 
was admitted to the asylum on the 11th of Nov. 1841, aged 81 [83 ?] years. He died on the 
12th day of July, 1851. His remains were buried in the grave-yard on the Asylum grounds, 
but have been removed to Mount Moriah Cemetery, where the stone erected by Miss Staf- 
ford continues to mark their resting place. 

Johnson was the son of a pilot of Mandel, a seaport on the coast of Norway, where he 
was born in 1758. In the absence of his father, he towed the first American vessel— the Ran- 
ger 18, commanded by Paul Jones — into the harbor of Mandel. After their arrival Jones 
sent for the young pilot, and presenting him with a piece of gold, expressed his pleasure 1 
at his expert seamanship which he had minutely w"atched during the towing of his ship 
into harbor. He had made the port of Mandel for the purpose of recruiting the crew of 
the Ranger, and satisfactory arrangements having been made with his father, Johnson was re- 
ceived on board as a seaman. On assuming the command of the Bon Homme Richard, Jones 
transferred some thirty volunteers from the Ranger, among whom was this Thos. Johnson, 
who following the fortunes of his leader, went with him to the Serapis, next to the Alliance, 
and finally arrived with him in the Ariel in Philadelphia, Feb. 18, 1781, when 23 years of age, 
the first time he had seen the land of his adoption. At this time congress was sitting in 
Philadelphia, and several of the members were removing their families to that city. Appli- 
cation having been made to Capt. Jones to furnish a man to take charge of a sloop to 
Boston to convey the furniture of John Adams to Philadelphia, he appointed Johnson, 
who performed the service. " This circumstance often brought Johnson in contact with 
Mr. Adams, who knew that he was one of the crew of Captain Jones, and consequently 
must have been in the conflict of the Serapis and Richard, which having occurred so re- 
cently, was a subject of general conversation. Many of the sailors frequented the hall of 
congress, and Johnson became interested in listening and observing what was so new to 
him that he was a daily visitor. When the members found that the sailors were part of 
the crew of Captain Jones, they frequently left their seats, and came over to them to in- 
quire the particulars of the recent engagement. Mr. Adams particularly engaged the at- 
tention of Johnson. To use the veteran's own words, he says, ' a nervous sensation seemed 
to pervade the patriot as he listened to the description of the battle given by the sailors ; 
fire flashed from his eyes, and his hair seemed perfectly erect; he would cLtsp his hands, 
and exclaim, What a scene ! ' 

" During the time they remained in Philadelphia, General Washington arrived, and was 
presented to congress ; Johnson was present and listened to the introduction by President 
Hancock, and the reply by the general. Some days after, when the sailors were in the 
hall, Mr. Adams brought General Washington to them, who kindly shook each by the 
hand, calling them our gallant tars ! and asking them questions relative to the many suc- 
cessful adventures they had recently achieved. 

" Johnson soon after left the navy, and engaged in the merchant service for some years, 
but eventually returned to it again, and he remained in it till near the end of his life's 
voyage."' 



6 



The flag is or was about three and a half yards long, and two yards 
and five inches wide. It is made of English bunting, and is sewed 
with hempen or flaxen thread, and contains twelve white stars in its 
blue union, and thirteen stripes alternately red and white. The stars 
are arranged in four horizontal parallel lines, with three stars on 
each line. Why so small a flag, scarcely larger than a boat's ensign of 
the present day, was used, may be explained by the action having 
been fought at night, and because of the high cost of the English 
material, and the difficulty of procuring it. The flag has been sev- 
eral times loaned for display at fairs and festivals. It was exhibited 
at the great fairs in Philadelphia and New- York, in behalf of the 
sanitary commission, and at the great fair in Trenton, N. J., in 
1862. A piece was cut from the fly of the flag at the beginning of our 
civil war, by direction of Mrs. Stafford, the mother of the present 
owner, and sent to President Lincoln, who suitably acknowledged 
the gift. 

The flag, with its twelve stars and thirteen stripes, bears evidence of 
its age, if not of its authenticity. Our flag, as established by law of 
congress, from 1777 to 1794 had thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. 
After 1794 and up to 1818, it had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. 
In 1818 a return was had to the thirteen stripes. Miss Stafford, 
who was born in July, 1802, recollects this flag from April, 1806, 
sixty T seven years ago, when, as a great favor, she was permitted by 
her father to carry it across the street in a family moving ; and an aged 
friend of hers, now a resident on Long Island, recollects its having 
been shown to her, many years before that, and of being told that it 
was the flag of the Bon Homme Richard. It must therefore date 
before 1794. 

Why its union has but twelve stars, unless they filled it, leaving 
no symmetrical place for the odd star, is a mystery. It has been 
suggested that only twelve of the colonies had consented to the con- 
federation at the date of its manufacture ; but that is not so. All the 
colonies had confederated before the adoption of the stars in 1777, 
and the consent of Georgia, the last to give assent, was symbolized 
in the flag of thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, which was 
raised by Washington in Cambridge, on the first of January, 1776. 

In an agreement signed by Paul Jones, and the captains of his 
Franco- American squadron, June, 1779, it was expressly stipulated 
that the squadron should fly the flag of the United States. We may 
be sure, therefore, that the stars and stripes were flown in the fight 
between the Richard and Serapis as they had been in the fight 
between the Drake and Ranger, six months earlier, as Jones him- 
self has stated. 

The conflict between the Bon Homme Richard, an old condemned 
East Indiaman, the Due de Duras, whose rotten sides were cut 
through and pierced for forty-four guns, and the Serapis, a strong, 
new and fast double-decked frigate of forty-four guns, which had just 
cost his Majesty a quarter of a million of dollars, representing double 



7 



that money value of the present time, is one of the most remarkable 
and desperate naval contests on record. 1 

The vessels closed with each other between seven and eight o'clock 
in the evening. The weather was clear, the surface of the sea was 
unruffled, and just as the Richard came within gunshot of her oppo- 
nent, the moon rose with unusual splendor, to reveal the terrible 
struggle which was about to open to tlie anxious spectators who had 
crowded to the edges of the cliffs of Flamborough Head, which oppo- 
site the scene of the combat formed the coast of old England. 
"What ship is that?" hailed the captain of the Serapis, as the 
Richard approached within hailing distance. " Come a little nearer, 
and I will tell } r ou," was the equivocal reply. "What are you laden 
with?" was the next inquiry. " Round, grape and double-headed 
shot ! " replied J ones defiantly ; and with that the Serapis imme- 
diately returned a broadside, and the action commenced. 

Time will not permit, and it is needless for me to follow out the 
details of the fight ; they can be found in any of our naval histories, 
and are familiar to every school-boy. A particularly good descrip- 
tion of the fight is given by H. B. Dawson in his Battles of the United 
States by Sea and Land, it being collated from the official reports, 
English and American, and from several contemporary and reliable 
accounts by eye-witnesses. I propose to give only an outline of it. 

The ships were soon lashed together : Thomas Johnson, the Nor- 
wegian, and Paul Jones himself assisting to make them fast. The 
Serapis dropped an anchor, hoping the Richard would drift clear of 
her, but the device did not effect its object, the vessels continued fast 
to the end of the engagement, and such a mauling as ensued was 
never before and has never since been witnessed. As has been said 
of General Taylor at the battle of Buena Vista, Jones was several 
times whipped, but did not know it, and finally achieved victory by 
sheer endurance. 

The vessels were ten or twelve times on fire, and alternately com- 
bating each other and the flames, which threatened destruction to 
both. At last a hand-grenade, thrown by a topman from the Rich- 
ard upon the main deck of the Serapis, exploded a number of 
cartridges lying on that deck from the mainmast to the extreme after 
part of the ship, killing over twenty and wounding thirty-eight of 
her crew, and decided the action in favor of the American ship. At 
half past ten o'clock at night, after an engagement of over three 
hours, captain Pearson struck the colors of the Serapis with his own 
hands, none of his crew daring to expose themselves for that purpose- 
As soon as it was known that the Serapis had surrendered, Lieut. 
Richard Dale passed on board and took possession of the prize, while 
Capt. Pearson with his officers passed over to the Richard and sur- 

1 A letter dated L'Orient, Oct. 20, 1779, says :— 

" The Serapis is a fine new ship, sheathed with copper, on an entire new construction, 
and thought to be the fastest sailing vessel in Europe. She has two entire batteries, the 
lower of which is 18 pounders, so that she may be said to be almost double the force of the 
Poor Richard." 



8 



rendered their swords to Commodore Jones. In surrendering his, 
Capt. Pearson rudely said : " It is with reluctance I am obliged to 
resign my sword to a man who may be said to fight with a halter 
about his neck." Jones, with gentlemanly courtesy and becoming 
dignity, replied: "Sir: you have fought like a hero, and I make 
no doubt your sovereign will reward you for it, in the most ample 
manner." 1 

As soon as Lieut. Dale had received a prize crew on hoard the 
Serapis, the lashings were cut, and the Richard slowly drifted away ; 
the prize following her as soon as the cables could be cut, when a 
new danger presented itself. The Richard was both sinking and on 
fire, and it was only by the assistance of the other vessels of the 
squadron that she was preserved long enough to secure the removal 
of the wounded of her crew. An examination early next morning 
showed that abaft, on a line with the guns of the Serapis which had 
been served after the vessels were lashed together, her siding and 
timbers had been entirely demolished, a few futtocks being the only 
support of her poop and spar-deck. Her rudder had been cut from 
her stern post ; her transoms had been nearly driven out of her ; 
the flames had got within her ceilings and menaced the magazine ; 
and the pumps by constant use could hardly keep the water at the 
same level. 

After securing the safety of all that were on board, about 9, A.M., 
the 25th of September, the officer in charge, with his crew, took to 
their boats, and about an hour later the Bon Homme Richard, hav- 
ing fought her good fight and finished her course, settled slowly into 
the sea and disappeared bow r foremost. The Serapis was taken 
into the Texel, under jury-masts. 

The loss of life was unusually severe. A writer in the Analectic 
Magazine states that the Richard had no less than one hundred and 
sixty-five killed, and one hundred and thirty-seven wounded and 
missing ; and that the Serapis had one hundred and thirty-seven killed 
and seventy-six missing ; her wdiole crew at the commencement of 
the action having been three hundred and tw r enty. But these state- 
ments are deemed exaggerations and have been denied. Capt Pear- 
son, in his official despatch to the admiralty, states the loss of the 
Serapis as forty-nine killed and sixty-eight wounded, which was 
about one-third of her crew, and is probably correct. When a mid- 
shipman, I was informed by an old sailor who was on board the Bon 
Homme Richard, that she was painted black and the Serapis yellow, 
at the time of the engagement. 2 

1 Capt. Pearson was subsequently knighted by George III. for his heroism in this action. 
Robert C. Sands, one of the biographers of Jones, discredits the story of Capt. Pearson's 
rudeness in delivering up his sword, assigning as a reason that Capt. Pearson was a gentle- 
man. Gentlemen, however, sometimes forget themselves, and the story, often repeated in 
other biographies and naval histories, rests on the authority of C. W. Goldsborough's Naval 
Chronicle. 

2 Jones, in his account of the battle, says : "It was then full moonlight, and the sides of 
the Bon Homme Richard were all black, while the sides and masts of the prize were all 
yellow." 



9 



This action, fought within sight of the shores of England, exer- 
cised as important an influence upon our affairs in Europe, as did 
the fight between the Kearsarge and the Alabama in recent times, 
and was a parallel to it in that a portion of the crew of the Serapis, 
after her surrender, attempted to escape in one of her boats to the 
Countess of Scarborough, or to the shore, as a portion of the 
Alabama's officers and crew did escape to the Deerhound, a British 
yacht. . 

The wonderful obstinacy with which this battle was maintained 
attracted general attention, and Franklin wrote home that Jones's 
name was on every lip for nine days in Paris. The poets of the day 
were swift to tune their lyres in description of the fight. Chief 
among these was Philip Freneau, who has graphically described it 
in the lines be^innino- : — 

" O'er the rough main with flowing sheet, A ship of less tremendous force 
The guardian of a numerous fleet, Sailed by her side, the self-same course, 

Serapis from the Baltic came ; Countess of Scarborough, her name." 

And ending thus : 

" Go on, great man to scourge the foe The stars that, clad in dark attire, 

And bid these haughty Britons know, Long glimmered with a feeble fire 

They to our ' thirteen stars ' shall bend ; But radiant now ascend." 

By way of example, I will read you a few verses from a homelier 
versifier, a favorite upon the forecastle, who appears to have been a 
sailor on board the Richard. His description is better than his 
grammar or the smoothness of his verse : 

" An American frigate — a frigate of fame, 
With guns mounted fort} 7 — Goodman Richard by name, 
Sailed to cruise in the channels of Old England, 
AVith a valiant commander — ' Paul Jones ' was that same. 

" He had not cruised long before he espies 
A large forty T -four, and a twenty likewise, 
Well manned with bold seamen, well laid in with stores, 
In consort to drive him from Old England's shores." 

The writer of the ballad proceeds to say that Percy came along- 
side " with a loud speaking trumpet," whatever that might be, and 
that Jones answered his hail and broadside, charging his men to 
stand firm to their guns, and continues : 

" The contest was bloody, both decks run with gore ; 
The sea seemed to blaze while the cannons did roar. 
' Fight, my brave boys,' then Paul Jones he cried, 
' And soon we will humble this bold Englishman's pride.' " 

After several verses, which I will not tax your patience by repeat- 
ing, the poet continues : 

" They fought them eight glasses, 1 eight glasses so hot, 
Till seventy bold seamen lay dead on the spot ; 
And ninety brave seamen lay stretched in their gore, 
"While the pieces of cannon most fiercely did roar." 

###### 

2 1 Four hours. 



10 



" Now all you valiant seamen, wherever you may be, 
Who hear of this combat, that's fought on the sea, 
May you all do like them, when called to the same, 
And your names be enrolled on the pages of fame." 

But there is claimed for this flap; a higher significance than it de- 
rives from having been worn by the Richard in her combat with the 
Serapis. You can decide what weight to give to the testimony. 
On the authority of Mrs. Patrick Hayes, a niece of Miss Sarah 
Austin, who became the second wife of Commodore John Barry, 
and who had the story from her aunt, it is stated that some patriotic 
ladies met in the old Swedes' Church, in Philadelphia, and, under 
the direction of John Brown, secretary of the new Board of Marine, 
formed or arranged a flag, which was presented to Capt. Paul Jones 
by the Misses Mary and Sarah Austin (the latter the aunt of Miss 
Hayes above referred to) in behalf of said ladies. After the 
presentation, Jones procured a small boat, and, unfurling the flag, 
sailed up and down the harbor, before Philadelphia, to show the 
assembled thousands what the national flap; was to be. 

I have been unable to ascertain the facts of the case, or the date 
of the organization of the Marine Committee with John Brown for 
its secretary, and John Meyler as his assistant. The records of the 
old Swedish Church, which I have had examined, do not record 
such a meeting, and a diligent search of files of Philadelphia 
newspapers for 1776 and '77 has failed to disclose an account of 
such a presentation. 1 

It is a well-known fact that Paul Jones's appointment to command 
the Ranger, and the resolve which added the stars of a new con- 
stellation to the stripes as our national ensign, were included in 
the same series of resolutions. 2 He has recorded that he was the 
first to hoist "the new constellation" over an American ship of war, 
when he assumed command of the Ranger, in Portsmouth, N. H., 
as he was the first to have it acknowledged by a salute from a 
foreign nation, February, 1778, in Quiberon Bay. 3 

In a letter to the Naval Committee, dated Feb. 22, 1778, Jones 
says : 

" I am happy to have it in my power to congratulate on my having seen 
the American hag, for the first time, recognized in the fullest and completest 
manner by that of France. I was off this bay on the loth inst. and sent a 
boat on the next day to know if the Admiral would return the salute. He 
answered he would return me as the senior continental officer in Europe, 
the same salute as he was authorized to return to an admiral of Holland, 
or any other Republic, which was four guns less than the salute given. I 
hesitated at this, for 1 had demanded gun for gun. 

1 Is it not possible this may have been the flag made by Mrs. John Ross, and claimed by 
her descendant, Win. J. Canby, of Philadelphia, to have been the first starred, flag ever 
made ? Paul Jones, in a schedule of his property dated July 18, 1792, twice mentions his 
" friend John Ross, of Philadelphia." 

2 See Resolutions of Congress, June 17, 1777. 

3 The MS. diary of Dr. Ezra Green, surgeon of the Ranger, now in the possession of the 
N. E. Hist. Gen. Society, notices this salute. 



11 



" Therefore I anchored in the entrance of the bay at a distance from 
the French fleet ; but after a very particular inquiry on the 14th, finding 
that he really told the truth, I was induced to accept his offer, the more 
as it was an acknowledgment of American Independence. 

" The wind being contrary and blowing hard, it was after sunset 
before the Ranger was near enough to salute La Motte Piquet with 
13 guns, which he returned with nine. However, to put the matter 
beyond a doubt, I did not suffer the ' Independence ' to salute until the 
next morning, when I sent word to the Admiral that I would salute him 
in open day. He was exceedingly pleasant, and returned the salute with 
nine guns." 

In his letter to the American Commissioners at Paris, dated at 
Brest, May 27, 1778, he mentions that in the action between the 
Ranger and the Drake, on the 24th of April preceding, when the 
latter hoisted the English colors, " the American Stars were 
displayed on board the Ranger." 

What more probable then than that the flag presented by the ladies 
of Philadelphia, the first of the kind ever raised over an American 
vessel of war, the first to receive a salute from a foreign power, 
and worn in the close ensuing victory over the Drake, highly valued 
by Jones, should be carried by him to the Bon Homme Richard, 
when he hoisted his flag on board of that ship, be worn during the 
action with the Serapis, and be transferred first to her on the 
sinking of the Richard, and finally to the Alliance, when Jones 
took command of that ship ? The original log-books of the Ranger 
and Bon Homme Richard, which are said to be in the possession of 
the Earl of Selkirk, and of Mr. George Napier in Scotland, might 
throw much light upon the subject. 1 

On the 17th of December, 1779, three months after the combat 
between the Serapis and Richard, the Alliance, to which, according 
to this theory, this flag had been transferred when Jones took com- 
mand, was lying in the Texel. The Dutch admiral wrote to him, 
asking to be informed whether the Alliance was a French or an 
American vessel. If the first, the admiral expected him to show 
his commission and display the French ensign and pennant, announc- 
ing her belonging to that nation by firing a gun ; but if an American, 
that he must lose no occasion to depart. The French Commissary 
of Marine urged him to satisfy all parties by hoisting French colors ; 
but Jones refused to wear any other than the American flag, and sent 
word to the Admiral that under that flag he wouM proceed to sea 
whenever the pilot would carry the ship out. 

At length, on the morning of the 27th of December, Jones had 
the satisfaction of announcing himself at sea in the Alliance, whence 
he "wrote to M. Dumas, by the pilot : "I am here, my dear Sir, with 
a good wind at east, and under my best American colors" 

1 "Paul Jones's lo^-hook is preserved at St. Mary's Isle, Lord Selkirk's seat. It was pre- 
sented to the late earl by a merchant of Boston, in'whosc hands it had fallen."— H. Cuth- 
bert, Cor. London Notes and Queries. 



12 



Favored by a strong wind, the Alliance the next day passed 
through the Straits of Dover, with her colors set, running close to 
the Goodwin Sands, in full view of the fleet anchored in the Downs, 
three or four miles to leeward, and on the 29th reconnoitred the 
fleet at S pithead, — -still showing her colors, — and on the first of 
January, 1780, was fairly out of the channel. Jones would, of course, 
consider the flag presented to him by the patriotic ladies of Phila- 
delphia as " his best American colors,' 1 and hoist it on these 
occasions. 

Miss Stafford's faith in this flasj as the veritable flag of the Bon 
Homme Richard is shown by the fact, that, unwilling to trust it to 
any hands but her own, she has journeyed from Trenton to Boston 
expressly to enable me to exhibit it to you, and will return with it 
when this meeting is over. 

NOTE. 

Miss Stafford is the patriotic elderly lady (I suppose I may call her so without offence, 
as she acknowledges to forty years over thirty) whose petition to congress for a pension 
on account of her father's services, ninety-three years before, created such a sensation in 
1872. Her home in Trenton is a museum of revolutionary relics, and her doorpiate is 
ornamented with an enamelled portrait of Washington. At the commencement of our 
civil war, she loaned twelve thousand dollars^ all in double eagles, to the state of New- 
Jersey, to aid in equipping the first volunteers from that state. This was several months 
before the issue of any bonds had been authorized, and was tendered and accepted before 
any such security could be given for it. Others gave of their abundance, but this woman 
gave all of her substance,— ever trusting to her motto, " The Lord will provide." 44 What 
is moncv without a country ?" she asked, when advised not to thus peril all she had. 

With regard to her pension, she writes me : l< Twenty-four years ago, Senator Clayton, 
of Delaware, presented my petition to Congress, asking to be allowed compensation for 
my father's services. Senator Evans, of South Carolina, reported adver.-ely, believing I 
was entitled to prize-money, but papa being a volunteer on boaid the Richard and not 
attached to her, was not entitled to any. Afterward, mama having received money from 
her relatives in Massachusetts, where she was bo: n, and lived for many years, I thought 
no more about Congress for some time. In 1860 my petition was renewed, and a bill 
passed the house of Representatives, but did not reach the Senate. 

" In 1872, the committee on revolutionary chums, repeating a House report of the same 
purport in I860, reported relative to my father's services as follows : 

46 ' It fully appears from the testimony before the committee that James Bayard 
Stafford entered the Navy at the beginning of the war of Independence, and was in 
constant and active service, and in frequent battles, and remained in the service 
until the close of the war ; that his ship was captured by a British cruiser, and 
subsequently recaptured by John Paul Jones, when he volunteered in the Bon 
Homme Richard, where he received wounds, which, owing to unskilful treatment, 
broke out after a time, disabling both his arms. 

4 4 4 Commodore Barry, of the Alliance, writes that ' Lieutenant Stafford served 
through the whole war. At the request of the secret committee of Congress, 1 sent 
him with a message to Henry Laurens, Esq . , a prisoner in the Tower of London. 
This duty he performed with great fidelity and success.' It will be remembered 
that Colonel Laurens, ex-President of Congress, and ambassador to Holland to 
negotiate for aid in our revolutionary struggle, had been taken prisoner and confined 
in the Tower of London, as stated by Commodore Barry. The secret committee of 
Congress felt the necessity of warning Colonel Laurens not to make any terms or 
accept of any compromises which the British might propose. This dangerous and 
difficult communication was offered to Lieutenant Stafford, because his patriotism 
had been proved by his abandonment of a lucrative business for the naval service, 
his courage often tested in action, while his education in Englanel and Ireland gave 
him a familiarity with localities and manners most necessary for success. Your 
committee have the affidavits of many a.^ed persons, cognizant of the above facts, ■ 
and of the difficulties of the service. Disguised as an Irish laborer, Lieutenant 
Staff jrd walked from Wexford, in Ireland, to London, except the short passage from 



13 



Dublin to Holyhead. The log-book of an American officer describes the fate 
Lieutenant Stafford would have been subjected to had he been captured in this 
perilous undertaking. ' They were marched upon a floating machine, their bodies, 
legs, and arms so ironed that they could not bend either ; the machine was towed 
at high water to a gallows erected by government orders ; the hangman made the 
halters fast to the gallows, and left them to die at leisure — that is, by inches, as the 
tide fell.' 

" ' Lt has been urged against the payment of naval service, that the revolutionary 
congress promised to pay the army only. This cannot be proved to be other than 
an omission, and is no reason why meritorious services should not be rewarded by 
us. Your committee believe that the sufferings and perils endured by Lieutenant 
Stafford in the navy were equal to those undergone by any officer in the army. 

" ' To show how much was received by the navy in the way of prize-money, it should 
be remembered that only one-third was allowed to the captors. By far the greater 
number of the prizes were sunk or burned as a matter of necessity. Sixty valuable 
merchantmen were abandoned to secure the Serapis for the use of the naval service. 
It was long before the prize-money was distributed. In the instance of the Serapis, 
just referred to, the money was not ordered to be paid until the year 1837, w r hen 
but few of the captors were left to receive it. 

' ' ' Lieutenant Stafford was a volunteer in this world-renowned action of the Richard ; 
his name, therefore, was not on the rolls, and his daughter can receive no prize- 
money under the law. 

" ' Congress annually appropriates money for secret service which requires neither 
patriotism, great ability, nor involves any danger. The pay for such service is 
alwa3 T s in proportion to the ability required and the hazards to be encountered. 

" ' In consideration of Lieutenant Stafford's naval service throughout the w r ar, of his 
wound, of the secret services rendered, for all of which he never received any 
payment or prize-money, your committee decide that the pra} r er of the petitioner 
should be granted, and report a bill accordingly.' 

" Following tins report, on the 21st of January, 1872, the Trenton Bank was robbed, and 
my bonds stolen therefrom. 1 was then in Washington, and received a telegram from 
the cashier that all my means that I had deposited there were gone. I took the telegram 
to -Senators Stockton and Frelinghuyscn, of New-Jersey, who at once brought forward my 
claim, and a bid passed allowing me seven years' lieutenant's half pay, under existing 
laws, amounting to $3,000. So the Lord will provide for those in adversity, if we but put 
our trust in Him. Probably you read of the passage of the bill in June, 1872, as there 
was much notice of it in. the newspapers, on account of the patriotic expression of the 
members, and my being overcome at the time." 

Of the stolen bonds, amounting in all to about the sum she loaned the state in 1831, she 
lias only been able to recover $3,400, which, being registered, were duplicated ; the remain- 
der of the stolen property, including many valuable family papers, is a total loss. 

Ill luck seems to pursue Miss Stafford's investments, as I learn from her that between 
fjur and rive thousand dollars of the money granted by congress was invested in North 
Pacific Railroad bonds, the present value of which the recent financial panic has disturbed. 

Miss Stafford furnishes me with the following description of her father: 

" The first recollection I have of my father he wore a deep blue coat with yellow buttons, 
blue breeches, and white stockings. His hair was long and powdered, and tied in queue! 
His shirts were ruffled, and he wore raffles at his wristbands. At times he wore a brown 
velvet coat and breeches, at other times a black velvet suit. When he attended court, he 
wore a black silk gown. Justices of the Peace from 1804 to 1810 held courts in New-Jersey, 
called quarter sessions, and he was on the Justices bench in Monmouth County many years. 

" He was the principal of Allcntown academy for seven years, and dressed in school in a 
plain morning gown. Out of school he wore a velvet suit, then fashionable among profes- 
sional men, and in cool weather a surcoat or surtout of blue, with yellow metal buttons, and 
in still colder weather a blue cloth cloak. He also wore a cocked hat. My father was an 
highly educated gentleman, and taught Latin, French, Navigation, Surveying and Book- 
keeping. Occasionally he had private students that boarded with our family. Lawrence 
Lewis, one of the directors of the old U. S. Bank, was a pupil of his. He surveyed land 
for his neighbors and established bounds in difficult and perplexing cases. His globe, 
printed in latin, I have in my possession. My father had a brown suit, trimmed very taste- 
fully, which he wore occasionally, and a dress he called his court dress, trimmed with gold 
lace. I have the buttons of this dress, which are large and appear as if covered with glass 
with a gilt rim around them. 

" In 1818, Doct. John Stafford and his mother visited us at Allentown, N. J., and he and 
my sister urged my father to change his dress and assume the ' Puritan' or American dress. 
After considerable argument he acceded to their wishes, and submitted to the change. His 
hair was cut short, and was no longer powdered, and he wore a black broad-cloth coat and 
pantaloons with a black satin vest. He, however, never was satisfied with this change in 



14 



his costume, wai always unhappy abaut it and attributed to his awkward dress, as he styled 
it, wh it I suppose was due to his increased years, the re-opening of his old wound. 

" My father was very lively in his early days, and fond of dancing, and was so graceful in 
the minuet, that his London teacher presented him to the king, before whom he exhibited 
his skill. He was the most accomplished gentleman I hive ever met, and was known all 
over the country by the name of ' the Old Squire.' He married, I think, more couples than 
any other Justice of the Peace for many miles around. He never swore, and always said 
no gentleman would ever swear or spit upon the floor." 



The following is a list of the officers of the Bon Homme Richard on the 23i of 
Sept. 1779 (from an official record): 



Names. 
John Paul Jones, 
Richard Dale, 
Henvy Lunt, 
Cutting Lunt, 
Samuel Stacey, 
Lawrence Brooks, 
Mathurin Mease, 

■ Stack, 

. Macarty, 

- — — 0. Kelly, 
John White, 
Thomas Potter, 
Nathaniel Fanning, 
Benjamin Stubbs, 
Reuben Chase, 
Beaumont Groulee, 
Jonah Carroll, 
William Daniel, 
John Mayrant, 
Robert Coram, 
John L. White, 
Richard Wat, 
Gilbert Wat, 
John Robinson, 
John Gunnion, 
William Clarke, 
Jacob True, 
Ichabod Lord, 
Thomas Turner, 
William Physic, 



Birthplace. 
Scotland, 
Maryland, 
Massachusetts, 

New-Hampshire, 

Massachusetts, 
France, 
u 

Ireland, 
America, 



Massachusetts, 



America, 

South Carolina, 
New Hampshire, 
America, 



England, 
America, 



Massachusetts, 
England, 



Retnar/cs. 



Badly wounded. 



Rank. 
Commodore. 
1st Lieut. 
2d " 
3d " 
Master. 
Surgeon. 
Purser. 

Lieut. Col. Marines. 
Lieut. " 
Lieut. " 
Mate. 

Midshipman. Wounded. 



Killed. 



Carpenter. 
Sailmaker. 
2d Gunner, 
Carpenter. 
Boatswain. 
Carpenter. 



Wounded. 



Wounded. 



Killed. 
Killed. 



The following statement of the force of the ships, on the 23d of September, 1779, is from 
Sherburne's LTe of Jones :— 



Bon Homme Richard. 

6 18 Pounders on Lower Gun Deck. 
14 12 " " Middle " " 
It 9 " " " " 

2 6" " Quarter " 

2 6 " " Spar deck—one in each 
gangway. 

2 6 u on the Forecastle. 

Total weight of shot, 4° 8 lbs. 
Crew, 380 men and boys. 

Sands, in his Memoir of Paul Jones, on 
copied from one filed by Congress, states the 
6 eighteen-pounders, 2S twelve-pounders, and 
pounds. 

Only seventy-eight of the officers and crew 



Serapis. 

20 18 Pounders on Lower Gun Deck. 

20 9 " " Upper Spar 
6 6 " " Quarter " 
4 6 " " Forecastle. 

Total weight of shot, 600 lbs. 
Crew, 305 men and about 15 lascars. 



the authority of a French official inventory, 
armament of the Bon Homme "Richard as 
6 nine-pounders. Total weight of shot, 474 

were American born. 



H.B.M.Bric Boxer 



II. 



THE FLAG OF THE ENTEEPEISE. 

4 

jf^l^iOUE attention is next invited to the flag worn by the U. S. 
wjlpf Brig Enterprise in her action with H. B. M. Brig Boxer, 
C ^ Sept. 5, 1813. It is now owned by Mr. Horatio Gr. Quincy, 
of Portland, Me., who has kindly loaned it for this occa- 
sion. He truthfully remarks, in his letter which accompanied it, that 
the flag which the dying Burrows requested might never be struck, 
is now almost struck to decay, neglect and old age, the devouring 
teeth of time. The flag is, as you see, about double the size of the 
Richard's, being seventeen feet nine inches in length by eleven feet 
three inches in width, and has fifteen stripes, and it may be sup- 
posed it had fifteen stars, arranged in three parallel lines of five each, 
though many of them have been obliterated by the causes above 
named. The union is eleven feet six inches, by five feet six inches. 

This was an old flag at the date of the engagement, and was 
patched up only the day before with pieces of a still older flag, by 
Mr. Metcalf, the sail-maker of the brig, who still lives and recog- 
nizes this flag as the one he worked upon. 1 After the victory, the 
body of Capt. Burrows was wrapped in it when it was taken , on 
shore and laid in state in the hotel of Mr. Coolidge (afterward a 
captain in the U. S. Revenue Service), to whom, drenched as it was 
with the hero's blood, it was presented by the surviving officers of the 
Enterprise. For better preservation, Capt. Coolidge sent it to 
the old Portland Museum, which citizens of that city half a century 
and less ago will remember. When the museum was sold out, and 
its contents scattered, Mr. Quincy obtained possession of this flag by 
purchase, and has held it in precious trust ever since. He writes 
me : " I loan you the old flag of the Enterprise with pleasure to 
exhibit with the other flags named by you. It stands as high in the 
estimation of all Americans, especially of a Portland boy, as either 
of the others." He adds that "after the action it bore the marks of 
fifty-nine shot holes," probably chiefly from musketry, as the engage- 
ment was close and muskets were much used throughout it. 

1 I am informed by Mr. Qniney tlmt he was one day carrying this flag, under his arm, 
rolled up, when he -w as met 1 y Mr. Metcalf, who asked what he had there. On being told, 
"The Flag of the Enterprise," he said " Let me see it; I ought to know that flag, as I re- 
paired it the day before the action, and remember patching the union with the hunting of 
an older flag." "When the flag was displayed to him, he at once recognized it and his work 
upon it. 



16 



THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE ENTERPRISE AND BOXER. 

Oil the 4th of September, 1813, the U. S. Brig Enterprise 1 sailed 
from Portland on a cruise to the eastward, having received informa- 
tion of several privateers being off Monhegan, and being, it is said, 
also attracted by the sound of cannon in that direction. On the follow- 
ing morning, in the bay near Peniaquid Point, a brig was discovered 
getting underway, which proved to be H. B. M. Brig Boxer, to which 
the Enterprise immediately gave chase. The Boxer fired several guns 
and stood for the Enterprise, with four ensigns hoisted. When the 
vessels had approached to half pistol-shot the action between them 
commenced, and was continued for about a quarter of an hour, when 
the Enterprise ranging ahead of her enemy, rounded to, and raked 
her. Soon after this the maintopmast and topsail yard of the 
Boxer came down, when the Ent^prise was enabled to take a posi- 
tion off her starboard bow, and continued to rake, until about forty 

1 The " lucky " Enterprise, built originally in Baltimore, in 1799, was schooner-rigged, 
mounted twelve gnus, was of 13 j tons'burthen, and cost $16,210. In a cruise of tight 
"•months under Lieut. J. Shaw, she fought five actions and captured nineteen vessels. 
Owing to these g.dlant services, she was the only small cruiser retained in our navy after 
the French war. During the Tripolitan Avar she was always actively employed in the 
Mediterranean, under Lieuts. Sfcerrett. Hull, Decatur, Robinson, and others. In 1819, she 
went to Europe under command of Lieut. Trippe. Returning in 1811, she was rebuilt, 
her tonnage increased to b>o ions, her armament to fourteen guns, and she was altered to 
a brig.- IS he cruised near our coas/from 1811 to 1814, successively under the command of 
J. Blakly, Win, Burrows, and J. feenshaw. While off the coast of Florida in company 
with the Rattlesnake, she captured a British privateer, and both vessels were chased by an 
English 74. Renshaw cast all her gunsK. overboard Imorder to increase her speed. It 
was of little avail : nothing saved the "lucky" little- brig from captive but a favorable 
shifting of the wind. Not long after she saricd into Charleston, and was there made a 
guard ship. Her cruisings -were continued aftcrthe war until 1822, with her usual good 
fortune, in the Mediterranean, West Indies, &c, under Lieut. Kearny. She was lost at 
Little Curacoa in 1823, while in command of Lieut. J. Gallagher, but her crew was saved. 
She was succeeded in the service by a schooner Enterprise, 10 guns and 191 tons, built in 
New-York in 1831. 

In her action with the Boxer, she was armed with 2 long nine pounders, and 14 cightccn- 
pounder earronades, and her complement of officers was 102. The Boxer was 182 tons, 
and mounted 12 eighteen-pounder earronades, and 2 long sixes. Her complement his 
been variously stated as from 70 to 100 men. Commodore Hull counted ninety hammocks 
with beds in them, stowed in her nettings, besides several beds without hammocks, which 
would argue a crew of at least that number. The Enterprise had 2 killed, 12 wounded 
in the action; the Boxer, 7 killed, 14 wounded. The Enterprise had 1 eighteen-pounder 
shot in her hull ; the Boxer 18, and several of her guns were dismounted. 

Lieut. McCall in his official report says : " As no muster roll that can be fully relied on 
Ins come into my possession, I cannot exactly state the number of killed and wounded on 
board the Boxer, but from information received from the officers of that vessel, it appears 
there were between twenty and twenty-five killed and fourteen wounded." 

Sixty-four prisoners were taken, including seventeen wounded. On an examination of the 
prize, she was adjudged wholly to the captors, agreeably to law, as a vessel of superior force. 

The English, in all their accounts of the engagement, state that the Enterprise was a 
much larger vessel than the Boxer. Allen says: "The Boxer measured 181 tons; the 
Enterprise 24o, and had a crew of 120 men and 3 boys." , Hrenton savs: " The American 
schooner was nearly double her [the Boxer's] force in number of men, and greatly supe- 
rior in guns and in'size." R dfe, in his Naval Chronology, 1803-1816, does not mention 
or refer to the action. As the dimensions and armaments I have given arc from official 
records, they can be relied upon. 

Old " Wade," who was the gunner of the U. S. Frigate Macedonian in 1839, when I was a 
midshipman on board of her, was one of the crew of the Enterprise in her figlit with the 
Boxer, and he told me that the Boxer fired two broadsides before the Enterprise returned 
a" gun; and that when about two hundred feet distant, Lieut. McCall gave the order: 
"Give her the bow gun [a long nine], my lads; " and this, the first gun on our side, took off 
the Boxer's jib-boom close to the cap. The action was fought under topsails, and occasion- 
ally jib and spanker. The Enterprise had three ensigns hoisted. 



minutes after the commencement of the action, when the enemy 
ceased firing', and hailed, saying he had surrendered. His colors hav- 
ing been nailed to the mast, could not be hauled down. 

Lieut. William Burrows, the commander of the Enterprise, was 
struck by a musket ball at the commencement of the action, 1 which 
was then continued by Lieut. McCall, the officer next in seniority. 2 
Burrows, however, refused to be carried below, and raising his head 
requested that the flag might never be struck. When the sword of 
the vanquished enemy was presented to him, the dying conqueror 
clasped his hands and exclaimed : " I am satisfied, I die contented ! " 
Then, and not till then, would he consent to be carried below, where 
every attention was vainly paid to save his life. A few hours after the 
victory he breathed his last. 

" His couch Avas his shroud, in his hammock he died, 
The shot of the Briton was true ; 
He breathed not a sigh, but faintly he cried 
Adieu, niy brave shipmates, adieu. 

" Away to your stations, let it never be said 
Yon banner you furled to the foe ; 
Let these stars ever shine at the maintopmast head, 
And the pathway to victory show. 

" Remember the accents of Lawrence the brave, 
Ere his spirit had fled to its rest : 
1 Don't give up the ship,' let her sink 'neath the wave 
And the breeze bear her fate to the west. 3 

1 Lossing says lis was assisting the men in running out a carronade, and, in doing so, 
placed one foot against the bulwarks to give lever power to his efforts. While in that 
position, a shot, supposed to be a cannister ball, struck his thigh, and, glancing from tho 
hone to his body, inflicted a painful and fatal Avound. He lived eight hours. 

2 The officers of the Enterprise in her action with the Boxer were : — 

William Burrows, lieut. commandant. Killed in the action, Sept. 5, 1813. 
Edward R. McCall, first lieutenant. Died in the service, a captain, July 31, 1853. 
Thomas G. Tillinghast, second lieut. Lost in the U. S. S. Wasp, 1815. 
William Hai-per, sailing master. Resigned, June 25, 1814. 

John H. Aulick, master's mate. Died in the service, Aug. 26, 1873, a 

commodore. 

V Bailey Washington, surgeon. Died in the service, August 4, 1854. 

Edwin W. Turner, purser. Died in the service, March 6, 1819. 

Kervin Waters, midshipman. Died of his wounds, Sept. 25, 1815. 

William F. Shields, " Resigned, Oct. 12, 1813. 

Vincent L. Lassicr, " 

Richard O'Neal, " Resigned, Aug. 9, 1827. 

Horatio Ewart, gunner. 

John Ball, boatswain. 

Mr. Metculf, acting sail maker. 
Lieut. Wm. Burrows was born Oct. 6, 1785, at Kinderton, near Philadelphia, the seat of 
his father Wm. Ward Barrows of South Caroliaa, who Avas lieut. col. commandant of U. 
S. Marines from 18 ^0 to 1804, when he resigned. He Avas educated chiefly under the eye 
of his father, a gentleman of accomplished mind and manners, and at the age of 13 AA r as as 
avcII acquainted with German as with his mother tongue. An interesting memoir of him, 
Avritten by Washington Irving, can be found in the Analectic Magazine, vol. ii. pp. 394-402. 

L'eut. Edward Rutledge McCall Avas born in Charleston, S. C, August 5, 1790, and was 
therefore but 22 years and 1 1 months old Avhen the action Avas fought. 

Congress ordered to the nearest male relative of Burrows a gold medal Avith " suitable 
emblems and devices." As no portrait of him had ever been painted, the medal struck in 
his honor contains on its obverse, instead of the usual effigy, an urn standing on an altar, 
on the side of which Avas his name. A gold medal was also presented to Lt. McCall, who 
continued the action, bearing his effigy on the obverse. The reverse of both medals re- 
presents the action, and has the same legend and motto. 

3 The action between the Chesapeake and Shannon was fought May 29, 1313. Com- 
mander Blyth served as a pall bearer at the funeral of Lawrence in Halifax. 

3 



18 



" He said, and a gun to the leeward was heard, 
'Twas the enemy's gun well he knew ; 
He raised up his head, and three times he cheered, 
And expired as he uttered adieu." 

Commander Samuel Blyth, of the Boxer, was killed by the first 
broadside from the Enterprise, an 18-pounder cannon shot passing 
through his body and nearly cutting him in two ; after which the com- 
mand devolved on Lieut. David McCreery, the senior lieutenant. 

The remains of the two commanders were brought to Portland, 
where they were interred side by side. The youthful midshipman, 
Waters, who was mortally wounded in the fight, and was promoted a 
lieutenant for his heroism, after lingering for over two years, died on 
the 25th of September, 1815, at the age of 18, and was buried by the 
side of his beloved commander. The young men of Portland were 
accustomed to sit by his side in turn for a whole day at a time, and 
as often as once a week, to amuse him and minister to his comfort. 
Aged persons now living in Portland remember the appearance ot 
the two vessels after the fight. My brother often told me of his 
visiting them immediately after they arrived in Portland, on the after- 
noon of the engagement. The decks of the Enterprise had been 
cleared, he said, and presented the wonted neat appearance of a ves- 
sel of war, but those of the Boxer remained just as she came out of 
the battle ; blood was smeared around and lay in pools upon the deck. 

The bodies of the two commanders were brought on shore in ten- 
oared barges, rowed at minute strokes by masters of ships, accompa- 
nied by most of the barges and boats in the harbor. Commodore 
Isaac Hull had charge of the funeral arrangements. A grand pro- 
cession was then formed from Union wharf, where the landing was 
effected, to the Second Parish Church, where the Kev. Dr. Payson 
officiated. The corpse of Burrows, draped in the flag you see before 
you, headed the procession ; that of Blyth followed, covered in like 
manner with the ensign he had caused to be nailed to the mast, and 
did not live to see lowered, and which is now one of the trophy-flags 
preserved at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. 

The interment took place with all the honors that the civil and 
military authorities of Portland could bestow ; the officers and crews 
of the two vessels followed their lamented leaders to the grave, and 
Forts Scammel and Preble awakened the echoes of the beautiful 
bay with the mournful sound of their minute guns. Equal honors in 
every respect were paid to the young commanders. 

Longfellow, in his beautiful poem of " My Lost Youth," thus 
refers to this fio-ht and the "raves of these heroes : — 

o & 

" I remember the bulwarks by the shore, "I remember the sea fight far away, 

And the fort upon the hill, How it thundered o'er the tide, 

And the sunset-gun with its hollow roar, And the dead captains as they lay [bay, 

The dram-beat repeated o'er and o'er, In their graves o'erlookin": the tranquil 

And the bugle wild and shrill. Where they in battle died." 1 

1 Recently it was proposed to remove the remains from the Eastern to Evergreen 
Cemetery, but such opposition Avas created that they were sutfered to rest in peace where 



19 



The Boxer was sold in Portland, and purchased by Thomas and 
William Merrill, for the merchant service. She was afloat as late 
as 1845. In September, 1814, she was temporarily armed with the 
guns of a Portuguese prize-ship, and hauled into position by the 
Portland rifle corps, to defend Vaughan bridge. Her own guns, 
which were eighteen-pounder carronades, were put on board the pri- 
vateer Hyder Ali, built and fitted out in Portland. 

There is an incident connected with this fight, and which, in fact, 
led to it, not generally known, which I must relate to you. 

Both the British and our governments, during the progress of the 
war, found it necessary to relax the strictness with which the rules 

our fathers had placed them. There was also a proposition some years since to remove the 
present monumental stones, and erect one imposing monument in their stead; but that 
was opposed, on the ground that the present monuments are public in their nature and 
should not be removed. The following are the inscriptions on the tombstones :— 



Beneath this Stone 
moulders 
the body of 
William Burrows, 
late commander 
of the 

United States Brig Enterprise 
who was mortally wounded 
on the 5th of Sept. 1813, 
in an action which contributed 
to increase the fame of 
American valor by capturing 
His Britannic Majesty's Brig Boxer 
after a severe contest 
of forty-five minutes, 
^t. 28. 

A passing stranger 1 has erected this 
monument of respect to the manes of 

a Patriot, who in the hour of peril 
obeyed the loud summons of an injured 
country, and who gallantly met, 
fought and conquer'd 
the foeman. 



In memory 

Capt. Samuel Blyth, 
late commander 
of 

His Britannic Majesty's Brig Boxer. 
He nobly fell 
on the 5th September, 1813, 
in action 
with the U. S. Brig Enterprise. 
In life honorable, 
in death glorious, 
his country will long deplore one of her 
bravest Sons; 
his friends long lament one of the 
bravest of Men. 
JEt. 29. 

The surviving officers of his crew offer 
this feeble tribute of admiration 
and respect. 



Beneath this marble, 
by the side of his gallant commander, 
rest the remains of 
Lieut. Kervin Waters, 
a native of Georgetown, District of 
Columbia, who received a mortal 

Avound Sept. 5th, 1813, 
While a Midshipman on board the 

V. S. Brig Enterprise 
in an action with H. B. M. Brig Boxer, 
which terminated in the capture 

of the latter. 
He languished in severe pain, 
which he endured with fortitude, 
until Sept. 25th, 1815, 
when he died with Christian 
calmness and resignation, 
aged 18. 
The young men of Portland 
erect this stone in testimony of their respect 
for his valor and virtues. 



1 The ,{ passing stranger " was Silas M. Burrows of New-York, who visited the cemetery, 
saw the neglected condition of the young hero's grave, and ordered a monument to be 
erected.— Lossinc/s War of 1812. Willis, in his History of Portland, says it was Silas E. 
Burrows, a relative of Lieut. Com'dt B. 



20 



of war excluded British importations. In fact they actually winked 
at their violation. Accordingly Mr. Charles Tappan, a brother of the 
late well-known philanthropist Lewis Tappan, and now a venerable 
resident of Brookline, Mass., received intimation from the custom 
house that our government had given directions not to scrutinize too 
narrowly the importation of British goods, with an added caution to 
look out for American privateers which were beyond its control. Act- 
ing on the hint thus conveyed, he sent one of his vessels to Europe, and 
putting her under the Swedish flag, ordered her to England, where 
she took in a cargo for St. John's, N. ( B. On learning of her arrival 
at that port, Mr. Tappan went there, where he found Capt. Blyth of 
the Boxer, who agreed with him for £100 sterling to convoy Mr. Tap- 
pan's Swedish brig to the mouth of the Kennebec. In pursuance of 
this arrangement, Mr. Tappan drew his bill of exchange on London 
for £100, and giving it to Capt. Blyth, returned to Portsmouth, 1ST. 
H., where he was doing business, to await the arrival of his vessel in 
the Kennebec ; while Capt. B. commenced his convoy, keeping at a 
suitable distance until, when near Eastport, the fog permitted him to 
approach and take her in tow. In this way the two vessels neared 
Seguin, when the weather having become clear, and privateers ap- 
pearing in sight, Capt. Blyth fired a few blank shots at his convoy as if 
in chase of her, and to deceive them. That device was successful, and 
the Swedish Brig arrived at Bath, whence her cargo was transhipped 
to Portsmouth ; but it so happened, the wind being easterly, that the 
sharp ears of Lieut. Burrows caught the boom of the guns, and he in- 
stantly made sail in the direction of the sound, with what result I have 
related. When Mr. Tappan heard of the battle, he was anxious about 
his bill of exchange, and went to Portland, where he boarded the 
Boxer, informed the senior officer of his negotiations with his de- 
ceased commander, paid him $500 in gold, and received back the 
bill of exchange for £100, which Was found in the breeches pocket of 
Capt. Blyth as he lay on board the captured brig. 1 

1 Since reading this paper, I have received the following account of this transaction in the 
autograph of Mr. Tappan. 

u Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 9, 1S73. 

" At the commencement of our war with Great Britain in 1813, the United States had but 
few if any factories for the manufacture of woolen cloths and blankets, and the soldiers were 
clad in British cloths and slept under British blankets. It Avas understood no captures 
would be made of British goods owned by citizens of the United States, and many American 
merchants imported, via Halifax and St. John's, N. B„, their usual stock of goods. In 1813 
I went with others in the * Swedish 3 brig Margaretta to St. John's, N. B., and filled her 
with British goods, intending to take them to Bath, Maine, and enter them regularly and 
pay the lawful duties thereon. All we had to fear was American privateers ; ar<d we hired 
Capt. Blyth, of H. B. M. Brig Boxer, to convoy us to the mouth of the Kennebec river, for 
which service we gave him a bid of exchange on London for £100. We sailed in company, 
and in a thick fog, off Quoddy Head, the Boxer took us in tow. It was agreed that when 
we were about to enter the mouth of the river two or three guns should be fired over us, to 
have the appearance of trying to stop us, should any idle folks be looking on. Capt. Bur- 
rows, in the U S. Brig Enterprise, lay in Portland harbor, and hearing the guns pot under- 
way, and as is well known captured the Boxer, after a severe engagement, in which both 
captains were killed. Our bill of exchange we thought might in some way cause us trouble, 
and we employed Esquire K. to take 500 specie dollars on board the captured ship and ex- 
ch nge them for the paper, which was found in Capt. Blyth's breeches pocket. 

" Capt. Fkeble. Yours respectfully, Chas. Taita:n t ." 



III. 



THE FLAG OF FORT McHENRY. 
A)A ... 

(gSjKeAST, but by no means least in size, and certainly not least in 
c ]Jn^$ interest from the associations which cluster around it, is the 

6? flag canopied over you, the flag of Fort McHenry, worn 
during its bombardment by the British on the 13th and 14th 
of September, 1814, " whose broad stripes and bright stars " which 
age has left undi mined, when tf seen by dawn's early light " on that 
memorable morning, inspired the words of our national song, "The 
star-spangled banner." After the lapse of sixty years its colors, as 
you see them, are so bright it would seem as if, in the words of 
another of our songs, " all its hues were born in heaven." 

The size of the garrison flags of our forts at this time, as estab* 
lished by the army regulations, is thirty-six feet fly and twenty feet 
hoist. The flag of Fort McHenry, as you here see it, is thirty-two 
feet long, by twenty-nine wide. Probably it was originally thirty- 
six feet, perhaps forty feet, in length,— and its greater width is 
due to its having fifteen stripes, instead of thirteen. It has, or 
rather had, fifteen stars, each two feet from point to point. You 
will observe that the stars are arranged in five indented parallel lines, 
three stars in each horizontal line, and that the union rests on the 
ninth, which is a red stripe, instead of the eighth, as in our present 
flag, which is a white stripe. 

You may perhaps recollect great excitement was caused in New- 
Orleans, at the commencement of our late civil war, in conse- 
quence of the displaying of a flag, by the ship Adelaide Bell, of 
New-Hampshire, from her mast-head, in which the union rested •on 
a red stripe, and which the mob decided was "a black repub- 
lican flag." The flag was hauled down, the vigilance committee 
persisting in the assertion that such a flag was known " as the flag of 
the northern republican states ;" yet all the flags worn during the 
war of 1812-14, and in fact from 1794 to 1818, were so arranged. 

In order to show it to you, and for the purpose of having its frail 
threads photographed, I have had the flag stitched upon canvass. It 



22 



was my intention to have had it hoisted on the navy-yard flagstaff, and 
to have craved for it a national salute ; but time has so weakened its 
fabric that it cannot be trusted to stand even such liidit, fitful 
breezes, as those which half-concealed and half-disclosed its beauties 
in 1814. 

The venerable Mr. M. J. Cohen, of Baltimore, who believes him- 
self to be the only surviving member of Nicholson's Company of 
Fencibles, — which mustered on the morning of the bombardment, 
(by count) one hundred and ten strong, and was stationed in the 
" star fort," the centre of the fortress where this flag was, — informs 
me that the flag was erected on a high mast not far from the bastion, 
and that he has a distinct recollection that one whole bombshell 
passed through it, and that it was likewise torn by several pieces of an- 
other. He recollects the flag as a very large one ; but has only seen 
it once since, when in the possession of Mr. Chris. Hugh Armistead, a 
brother of Mrs. Appleton, its present owner. 

There can be no doubt regarding the authenticity of this flag. It 
was preserved by Col. Armistead, and bears upon one of its stripes 
his name and the date of the bombardment in his own handwriting. 
It has always remained in his family, and his widow at her death 
bequeathed it to their youngest daughter, Mrs. William Stuart Apple- 
ton, who was born in Fort McHenry under its folds, some years after 
the bombardment. Mrs. Appleton, with whose presence w r e are 
favored to-day, and to whose kindness I am indebted for being able 
to show you this flag, informs me that it is connected with her earliest 
recollections, and that she has frequently seen it borne aw r ay with 
military honors to play its recognized part in some pageant or cele- 
bration of the 13th and 14th of September. The occasion that most 
impressed her was when it was used to adorn the tent in which 
Lafayette was entertained at Fort McHenry. The other most noted 
object in the marquee (which she thinks had once belonged to Wash- 
ington) was the large silver vase presented to her father by the 
citizens of Baltimore for his successful defence of Fort McHenry. 
Mrs. Appleton was named Georgiana, for her father, and the flag was 
hoisted on its staff in honor of her birth. 



THE BOMBAHDMEKT OF FORT McHEKRY. 

On the night of Saturday, the 10th of September, 1314, the 
British fleet, consisting of ships of the line, heavy frigates and bomb 
vessels, amounting in all to thirty sail, appeared at the mouth of the 
.Patapsco, with every indication of an attempt upon the city of Balti- 
more. The total force, regulars and volunteers, for the defence of 
Fort McHenry. under the command of Lieut. Col. George Armis- 



23 



tead, U.S.A., a young man thirty-four years of age, amounted in 
all to about one thousand men. 1 

On Monday morning, the 12th, the enemy commenced landing 
troops on the east side of the Patapsco, about ten miles from the fort, 
and during the day and ensuing night brought sixteen vessels, five 
of which were bomb-vessels, within about two-and-a-half miles of 
the fort. 2 

About sunrise, Tuesday morning (the 13th), the enemy's five bomb 
vessels, at the distance of about two miles, opened their fire, and kept 
up an incessant and well-directed bombardment, which was imme- 
diately returned by our batteries, whose shot and shell unfortunately 
fell considerably short of the assailants. This left the defenders of 
the fort exposed to a constant and tremendous shower of shell, 
without the remotest possibility of doing him the slightest injury. 
Though thus exposed and perforce inactive, Col. Armistcad in his 
report says : "Not a man shrank from the conflict." 

About two, P.M., a lieutenant was killed, several were wounded, 
and a twenty-four pounder dismounted by one of the enemy's shells. 
Noticing the bustle necessarily produced in removing the wounded 
and in replacing the gun, the enemy, suspected the garrison was in 
a state of confusion, and brought his bomb-vessels up nearer, and into 
what Col. Armistead thought good striking distance. He therefore 
re-opened his fire upon them and with such effect that in half an hour 
they were forced to retire beyond the range of the guns of Port 
McIIenry, when with three cheers he again ceased firing. The 

1 George Armistead was born in New-Market, Co. Carolina, Virginia, on the 10th of April, 
1780. He entered the army as a 2d lieut. Jan. 8, 1799. He rose to the rank of major of the 
Third Artillery in 1813 ; was distinguished at the capture of Fort George, in May, 1813, 
and was breveted lieut. colonel for his gallantry. He had five brothers in the army during 
the " war of 1812 : " three in the regular service, and two in the militia. The sense of re- 
sponsibility, and the tax upon his nervous system during the bombardment, left him with a 
disease of the heart, which caused his death at the age of 38 years. The ancestors of his 
family came from Hesse d'Armstadt. 

The garrison of Fort McHenry consisted of— 

One Company of U. S. Artillery, commanded by Capt. Evans. 

Two Companies of Sea Fencibles " Capts. Banbury and Addison. 

The Washington Artillery of Baltimore, " Capt. John Berry. 

The Bait. Independent Artillerists, 41 Capt. Chas. Pennington. 

The Baltimore Fencibles, " Capt. Josh. H. Nicholson. 

A Detachment of Flotilla men, " Lieut. Rodman, 

and detachments from the 12th, 14th, 36th and 38th U. S. Infantry, commanded by Lieut. 
Col. Smart, and Major Lane. 

Fort Covington was manned with a party of sailors under the command of Lieut. New- 
comb, TJ-.S.N., and the six-gun battery was manned with flotilla men under Lieut. John 
A. Webster. . 

2 Sir Alex. Cochrane, in his despatch to the secretary of the admiralty, dated Sept. 17, 
1814, says : " So soon as the army moved forward, I hoisted my flag on 'the Surprise, and 
with the remainder of the frigates, bomb-sloops and the rocket-ship, passed further up the 
river. * * * At daybreak the next morning (13th), the bombs, having taken their sta- 
tions within shell-range, supported by the Surprise, with the other frigates and sloops, opened 
their fire upon the fort that protected the harbor." 

Allen, in his " Battle? of the British Navy," says : Vice Adm'i Cochrane's flag ship was 
the Royal Oak. He does not mention the Minden, but says the frigates Severn, Euryalus, 
Havannah, and five mortar-ships, and the Erebus rocket ship, Capt. D. E. Bartholomew, 
were appointed to proceed up the river to attack Fort McHenry and other contiguous bat- 
teries. The five mortar-vessels were the Meteor. Etna, Terror, Volcano, and Devastation, 
commanded by Capts. Saml. Roberts, Richard Kenah, John Sheridan, David Price, and 
Thomas Alexander. 



24 



enemy continued, with slight intermission, throwing shells until one 
o'clock Wednesday morning, the 14th, when it was discovered that 
he had availed himself of the darkness of the night, and had thrown 
a considerable force above and to the right of Fort McHenry, threat- 
ening Fort Covington. As they approached that fort, they began to 
throw rockets, probably to enable them to examine the shores. 

" By the rocket's red glare and bomb bursting in air, 
W e saw through the night, that our flag was still there." 

The force landed consisted of 1250 men, who were provided with 
scaling ladders for the purpose of storming the fort. This force 
being within range, our batteries opened fire upon it as soon as dis- 
covered, and after a continual blaze of nearly two hours succeeded 
in driving it off. 1 

Col. Armistead, in his official despatch, states that Lieut. Xewcombe 2 
of the United States Navy, who commanded Fort Covington with a 
detachment of sailors, and Lieut Webster 3 of the flotilla, who com- 
manded a six-gun battery near that fort, kept up during this time an 
animated and destructive fire, to which he was persuaded he was 
much indebted for repulsing the enemy. The only means our men 
had of directing their guns, was by the blaze of the enemy's rockets 
and the flashes of their guns. The bombardment continued on the 
part of the enemy until 7, A.M., when it ceased, and about 9, A.M., 
their ships got underway and stood down the river repulsed. 

During the bombardment, which was continued for twenty-five 
hours, with only two slight intermissions, Col. Armistead calculated 
that from 1500 to 1800 shells were thrown by the enemy, a few 
of which fell short ; a large proportion burst over the fort, throwing 
their fragments among its defenders, and threatening destruction ; 
while many passed over, and about 400 fell within the works. Yet 
the loss amounted to only four men killed, and twenty-four wounded. 
Among: the killed were Lieut Claret and Serjeant Clem in, of 

1 Gen. Smith, in his report dated Sept. 14th, says that two or three rocket-vessels arid 
barges succeeded in getting up the ferry-branch, and that the forts destroyed one of the 
barges. 

Col. Armistead states in his report, Sept. 2tth, that in the darkness the enemy threw a 
considerable force above to the right, which he lias since understood consisted of 1250 
picked men, provided with scaling bidders. Lossing and other historical writers have ac- 
cepted 1250 as the force landed ; but Allen, in his " Battles of the British Navy," probably 
on the authority of the English official despatches, says: "At night a division of twenty 
boats was despatched up the ferry- branch to cause a diversion in favor of a projected assault 
upon the enemy's camp; but in consequence of the extreme darkness of the night, the 
boats separated, and eleven returned to the ships. The remaining nine boats, containing 
123 officers and men, under Capt. [Clinics] Napier, passed up the river some distance above 
Fort McHenry, and opened a fire of rockets and musketry ; but Capt. Napier, not having 
his whole party, refrained from landing. A body of troops was quickly drawn to the spot, 
and Capt. N. having thus effected the principal object intended,, returned down the river. 
When abreast of the fort, one of the officers unadvisedly discharged a rocket, and a heavy 
fire was instantly opened upon the boats, but which fortunately killed no more than one of 
the party." 

2 Lieut. II. S. Ncwcombe. born in New-Hampshire, was appointed a midshipman Jan. 
16, 1839; promoted a licut. July 21, 1813, and drowned while attached to the Mediterranean 
squadron, Nov. 1, 182o. 

3 Capt. John A. Webster is now the senior Captain of the U. S. Revenue Marine, and his 
son is ako a Captain in the same service. 



25 



Nicholson's volunteers, whose loss was deplored not only for their 
personal bravery, but for their high standing, amiable demeanor, and 
spotless integrity in private life. 

The prowess of Col. Armistead and his little band in defending 
Fort McHenry, was the theme of praise upon every lip. The grate- 
ful citizens of Baltimore presented him with a costly and appropri- 
ate testimonial of their appreciation of his services, in the shape of 
an elegant silver punch-bowl, in the form of and the size of the 
largest bombshell thrown into the fort by the British ; the ladle in the 
form of a shrapnell shell. The body of the bowl rests upon four eagles 
with outstretched wings. Upon one side of the bowl is an engraving 
representing the bombardment, surrounded by military trophies. 
On the other is the inscription. There were also a dozen silver 
goblets representing powder barrels. The whole service was sus- 
tained by an elegant and massive silver salver. He was also voted a 
sword by his native state, Virginia, which after his death was deli- 
vered to his son, Christopher Hughes Armistead, now a resident of 
Baltimore. A marble monument was also erected to his memory, on 
which is inscribed : — " Colonel George Armistead, in honor of 
whom this Monument is erected, was the gallant defen- 
der of Fort McHenry during the Bombardment of the 
British Fleet, Sept. 13, 1814. He died, universally es- 
teemed AND REGRETTED, APRIL 25, 1818, AGED 39." 

I am informed by Mrs. Appleton that her father had orders from 
the general, commanding in Baltimore, to surrender the fort, as he 
considered it unable to make a successful resistance, the magazines 
not being bomb-proof. 1 Like Xelson at Copenhagen, who turned a 
blind eye to his orders, he defended the fort, with the prospect of a 
court-martial should the enemy's attack prove successful. Of course, 
none was thought of after his brilliant success. 

Such was the scene which this flag waved over when it inspired 
Francis Scott Key to compose our national song. " The scene 
which he describes and the warm spirit of patriotism which breathes 
in the song," says his brother-in-law, Chief- Justice Taney, " were 
not the offspring of mere fancy, or poetic imagination. He describes 
what he actually saw, and he tells us what he felt while witnessing 
the conflict, and what he felt when the battle was over, and the 
victory won by his countrymen. Every word came warm from his 
heart, and for that reason, even more than its pcetical merit, it never 
fails to find response in the hearts of those who listen to it." 

The song was first published in the Baltimore American of Sep- 
tember 21, 1814, the week after the battle, with these prefatory 
remarks : " This song was composed under the following circumstances. 
A gentleman had left Baltimore in a flag of truce, for the purpose 
of getting released from the British fleet a friend of his who 

1 A shell fell into the magazine, but fortunately did not explode. 



26 



had been captured at Marlborough. 1 He went as far as the 
mouth of the Patuxent, and was not permitted to return lest the 
intended attack on Baltimore should be disclosed. He was therefore 
brought up the bay to the mouth of the Patapsco where the flag- 
vessel was kept under the guns of a frigate [the Surprise] , and 
was compelled to witness the bombardment of Fort Mcllenry, which 
the admiral had boasted he would carry in a few hours. He 
watched the flag at the fort through the whole day, with an anxiety 
that can be better felt than described, until the night prevented him 
from seeing it. In the night he watched the bombshells, and at early 
dawn his eye was again greeted by the proudly waving flag of his 
country." 

A writer in the Historical Record, for January, 1873, says it was 
wdiile pacing the deck of the Minden, between midnight and dawn, 
that Key composed this song ; and the Minden has generally been 
credited with having been the vessel on board of which it was com- 
posed. From 1854 to 1859, being no more fit for the sea, the 
Minden 74 was anchored in Hong Kong as a hospital ship, where 
she was finally broken up, when her timbers became anxiously 
sought after by patriotic Americans, to be manufactured into 
relics. It was, however, on board Key's own vessel that the song 
was written. 

Judge Taney, whose information was derived from Mr. Key him- 
self, in a letter introductory to Key's poems, furnishes the following 
narrative regarding its composition : — ff Admiral Cochrane, with whom 
Key dined on the day of his arrival at the fleet, apologized lor net 
accommodating him on board his own ship [The Royal Oak] during 
this detention, saying it was already crowded with officers of the 
army, but that he and his friend, Mr. Skinner, would be well taken 
care of on board the frigate Surprise, commanded by his son, Sir 
Thomas Cochrane, to which frigate they were accordingly transferred. 
Mr. Key and Mr. Skinner continued on board the Surprise until the 
fleet reached the Patapsco and preparations were making for landing 
the troops. Admiral Cochrane then shifted his flag to the frigate, 
that he might be able to move further up the river, and superintend 
in person the attack by water on the fort, and Mr. Key and Mr. 
Skinner were sent on board their own vessel, with a guard of sailors 
and marines to prevent them from landing. They were permitted 
t3 take Doct. Beanes with them, and thought themselves fortu- 
nate in being anchored in a position to enable them to see distinctly 

1 Dr. Beanes, a leading physician of upper Marlborough, the intimate friend of Mr. 
Key, whose house had been tlie quarters of Admiral Cockbtirn and some of the principal 
officers of the army when the British troops camped at Marlborough, on their march to 
Washington. 

In a letter to his mother (now in the possession of F. M. Etting, Esq., of Philadelphia), 
under date, Georgetown, 2d September, 1814, Key writes: "I am going in the morning 
to Bal'imore, to proceed in a flag vessel to Gen. Ross. Old Doct. Beanes, of Marlboro', 
is taken prisoner by the enemy, who threaten to carry him off. Some of his friends have 
urged me to apply for a flag to go and try to procure his release. I hope to return in about 
8 or 10 days, though it is uncertain, as I do not know where to find the fleet." 



27 



the flag of Fort Mellenry, from the deck of the vessel. Mr. Key, 
with much animation, described [to Judge Taney] the scene on 
the night of the bombardment. He and Mr. Skinner remained 
on deck during 1 the night, watching every shell from the moment it 
was tired until it fell, listening with breathless interest to hear if an 
explosion followed. But it suddenly ceased before day, and as they 
had no communication with any of the enemy's ships they did not 
know whether the fort had surrendered or the attack been abandoned. 
They paced the deck for the remainder of the night in painful sus- 
pense, Avatching with intense anxiety for the return of day, and look- 
ing every few minutes at their watches to see how long they must 
wait for it ; and as soon as it dawned, and before it was light enough 
to see objects at a distance, their glasses were turned to the fort, un- 
certain whether they should see there the stars and stripes or the flag 
of the enemy. At length the light came, and they saw that our " flag 
was still there." And as the day advanced, they discovered, from the 
movement of the boats between the shore and the fleet, that the 
troops had been roughly handled, and that many wounded men were 
carried to the ships. At length Mr. Key was informed that the at- 
tack on Baltimore had failed, and the British army was re-embarking, 
and that he, Mr. Skinner, and Doct. Beanes, would be permitted 
to leave the fleet and go where they pleased, as soon as the troops 
were on board and ready to sail. 

"Mr. Key then told me [continues Judge Taney] that under the 
excitement of the time he had written a song, and handed me a print- 
ed copy of ? The Star-Spangled Banner.' When I had read it and 
expressed my admiration, I asked him how he found time, in the 
scenes he had been passing through, to compose such a song? He 
said he commenced it on the deck of his vessel, in the furor of the 
moment when he saw the enemy hastily retreating to their ships, and 
looked at the flag he had watched for so anxiously as the morning 
opened ; that he had written some lines or brief notes that would aid 
him in calling them to mind upon the back of a letter which he hap- 
pened to have in his pocket ; and for some of the lines as he proceed- 
ed he was obliged to rely altogether on his memory ; and that he 
finished it in the boat on his way to the shore, and wrote it out, as it 
now stands, at the hotel, on the night he reached Baltimore, and im- 
mediately after he arrived. The next morning he took it to Judge 
Nicholson 1 to ask him what he thought of it, and he was so much 
pleased with it that he immediately sent it to the printer, and directed 
copies to be struck off in hand-bill form. In less than an hour after 
it was placed in the hands of the printer it was all over the town, and 
hailed with enthusiasm, and at once took its place as a national 
song." 

1 Judge N: and Mr. Key were nearly connected by marriage, their wives being sisters. 
Though the chief-justice of Baltimore, and one of the judges of the Court of Appeals of 
Maryland, he as a volunteer commanded a company in the fort at the bombardment. 



28 



The words on this broadside were enclosed in an elliptical border 
composed of the common type ornaments of the day. Around that 
border, and a little distance from it, on a line of the same form are the 
words : " Bombardment or Fort McHenry." The letters of these 
words are wide apart, and each one surrounded by a circle of stars. 
Below the song, and within the ellipsis, are the words : " Written by 
Francis S. Key, of Georgetown, I). C." 

The Baltimore American, in 1872, on the anniversary of the 
battle of North Point, republished the song, and said : " We have 
placed at the head of this article, this now immortal song, just as 
it saw the light fifty-eight years ago. The poet, Francis Scott Key, 
was too modest to announce himself, and it was not for some time 
after its first appearance that he became known as the author. It 
was brought to Baltimore and first given to the publishers of the 
American by John S. Skinner, Esq., who had been appointed by 
President Madison to conduct some negotiations with the British 
force relative to the exchange of prisoners. It was in this way that 
Mr. Skinner chanced to meet Mr. Key on the flag-of-truce boat, 
and obtained from him the song." Samuel Sands, the printer-boy, 
who put the song in type in the office of the American, still lives, 
and is the well-known and respected editor of the American Farmer. 

The Star-spangled Banner was first sung, 1 according to one account, 
in a small one-story frame house next the Holiday Street Theatre, 
occupied as a tavern, a house " where players most did congregate." 
A correspondent of the Historical Magazine, however, who says 
he Avas one of the group, asserts that it was first sung by his brother, 
and about twenty volunteer soldiers, who joined in the chorus in 
front of the Holiday Street Theatre. 8 It is certain that it was soon 
heard within that ancient edifice, where it was received with unbound- 
ed enthusiasm. 

Several copies of the song, in the autograph of the author, differ- 
ing more or less from the first published and common version, are 
known to be in existence. "One of these is in the possession of Mrs. 
Charles Howard, of Baltimore, a daughter of the author; another 
was presented by Mr. Key, in 1842, to Gen. George Keim, and is 
now in the possession of his son, Henry May Keim, Esq., of Bead- 
ing, Penn. ; a third, which he presented June 7, 1842, to James 
Mahar, who for many years was the gardener of the executive man- 
sion in Washington, was exhibited in 1843, after Mr. Key's death, 

1 The song was sung to the tune of "Anacreon in Heaven," an interesting history of 
which can be found in the Hon. Stephen Salisbury's " Essay on the Star-Spangled Banner 
and National Songs," read before the American Antiquarian Society and since published in 
pamphlet form, with a version of " To Anacreon in Heaven," and Robert Treat Paine's 
song, " Adams and Liberty," which was sung to the same tune in 1798. 

Alexander H. Everett wrote an ode for the Russian festival in Boston, March 25, 1813, which 
was sung to the same tune, and a recent writer in the Historical Record thinks it probable 
that the metre of Everett's ode was in the mind of Key when he composed the " Star- 
Spangled Banner." 

2 The Holiday Street Theatre was destroyed bv fire Sept. in, 1?73. With the exception 
of the Walnut St. Theatre, Philadelphia, it was the oldest in the United States, dating back 
to 1791. 



2D 

in the window of a bookstore on Pennsylvania Avenue, with a cer- 
tificate to the identity of the handwriting signed by Judge Dimlap, 
Peter Force, Esq. , and other gentlemen who were intimately acquaint- 
ed with Mr. Key, and perfectly familiar with his st vie of penmanship. 

A fac-simile of the MS. copy in the possession of Mrs. Howard 
was published in ''Autograph Leaves of our Country's Authors," 
edited by John P. Kennedy and Alexander Bliss for the benefit of 
the sanitary fair held in Baltimore in 1864. The first verse of that 
version of the song is given in fac-simile in Lossing's "Field-Book 
of the War of 1812." I have a photographic copy of the autograph 
in the possession of Mr. Keim. 1 The National Intelligencer printed 
the version given to Mr. Mahar. These three autograph-copies, 
written out by Mr. Key, a few months before his death, are alike in 
all respects, and therefore may be considered as embodying the au- 
thor's matured conception of the song. 

The following is his revised version, from the autograph in the 
possession of Mr. Keim, to which I have appended notes showing its 
variations from other versions : 

say, can you see. by the dawn's early light, 

"What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight, 2 
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming ? 
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air, 
Gaye proof through the night that our flag was still there. 
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free & the home of the brave ? 

On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, 
"Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes^ 
What is that, which the breeze, o'er the towering steep 
As it fitfully blows, half 3 conceals, half 3 discloses"? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam 
In full glory reflected, now shines in 4 the stream. 
'Tis the star-spangled banner, ! long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free & the home of the brave ! 

And where are the foes that 5 so vaunting!}' swore 

That 6 the havoc of war & the battle's confusion, 
A home and a countr}' should should 7 leave Us no more ? 

Their 8 blood has wash'd out their 8 foul footstep's pollution. 
' No refuge could save the hireling & slave, 

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free & the home of the brave. 

1 In " The History of Onr Flag," I have stated, on the authority of a correspondent of 
one of the historical magazines, that the original draft, zcith its erasures, &c, was purchased 
by Gen. Geo. Keim, of Heading, and is probably in the possession of his heirs. The pho- 
tograph in my possession shows that it is a fair copy, written out by Mr. Key] and I learn 
fr.sm Gen Keim's son that the autograph was presented to his father by Mr. Key. 

2 " Perilous fight " — Griswold, Dana, Boys' Banner Book, Salisbury, Common versions. 

3 11 Now " — Dana, Salisbury, Key's Poems. 

4 " O'er" — Several versions; "Ou " — Mahar's autograph, Salisbury; "In "—Bait. Am. 

5 4i Band who " — Griswold Dana, Banner Bonk, Salisbury, Bait. Am. 1814. 
« "Mid"— Griswold, Dana; " That"— Salisbury, Bait. Am. 1814-. 

- " They'd"— Griszrold ; 44 Should" — Bait. Am. 1814, Salisbury, Common versions. 

""This" ''his" — Mahar's copy. The National Intelligencer says: "He heard the 
vaunting boast of British officers that the fort would be reduced in a brief period after ths 
attack, and that circumstance explains the use of the pronouns in the singular number " 
All the other versions I have seen have it ' their.' 4 their/ as in the text above. 

* Na r.*>v!>l IwTe **rc* f C*J > <^- 6 



30 



thus be it ever ! when freemen 1 shall stand 

Between their 2 lov'd homes & the war's desolation. 
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n^rescued land 
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 
And this be our motto, In God is our trust. 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free & the home of the brave. 
To Gen. Keim. F. S. Key. 

I have endeavored, as briefly as is consistent with my subject, to 
narrate the history of these flags. Since the "new constellation" 
shone over that moonlight fight in 1779, it has trebled its lustre by 
the addition of new stars, and attained a pre-eminence in the poli- 
tical firmament undreamed of at its birth. It rose to herald a 
new nation of less than four millions of people, but within the first 
century of its existence it protects neath its galaxy almost ten times 
that number. By a happy inspiration the chosen symbol of a group 
of states clustered upon the Atlantic slope, it is now the sovereign 
emblem of a people whose dominion extends to the Pacific ocean. 
Confined to no latitude or longitude, it gleams over all seas, and 
every where is known and hailed as The American Flag. 

" What memories for the breast that own 
One fibre of the common heart ! 
What whispered warnings in the tone 
Which from its blazoned bunting start ! 

" Follow its track across the sens 

Northward, till midnight kisses morn, 
Fling it abroad upon the breeze 

Beneath the burning zodiac born : 
And while its sheltering folds expand 

Above thee — sleep ! devoid of fear, 
It is the symbol of a land 

Which balances a hemisphere." 3 

1 "Freemen " — Grisioold, Banner Book, Salisbury, Bait. Am. 1814; "Foemcn" — Dana. 

2 « Our" — Griswold, Dana, Bait. Am,., Common versions; " Their " — Salisbury. 

3 Column's " Knightly Heart and other Poems." 



3L 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW-ENGLAND HISTORIC, GENEALOGICAL 

SOCIETY. 

Boston, July 9. Pursuant to adjournment the society met this day, the President, 
the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, in the chair, and listened to a paper read by Capt. Geo. 
Henry Preble, U. S. N., upon the history of three memorable and historic flags, 
namely : the flag worn by the Bon Hornme Richard in her fight, under command 
of John Paul Jones, with the Serapis, in 1779 ; the flag borne by the U. S. Brig 
Enterprise in her encounter with the Boxer in 1813; and the flag which floated 
over Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, in 1814, at the time of the British naval at- 
tack on that city, and which inspired Key's " Star Spangled Banner." 

Miss Sarah Smith Stafford, of Trenton, N. J., the owner of the Bon Homme 
Richard flag, Mrs. William Stuart Appleton, the daughter of Col, Armistead, and 
owner of the Fcrt Henry flag, and her daughters, were present. 

During his reading, Capt. Preble exhibited the diary of Dr. Ezra Green, 
surgeon of the Ranger in 1778, which had been handed to him since he en- 
tered the room, by the Hon. James D. Green, a nephew of the diarist, and read 
an extract from the diary confirming his own statement regarding the first salute 
paid to the stars and stripes by a foreign power. 

The " Star Spangled Banner," at the conclusion of the paper, was sung, at the 
suggestion of the president ; Mrs. Baker, of Boston, a grand-daughter of the heroic 
defender of Fort McHenry, leading. 

The Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., remarked upon the national song they had just 
listened to, and spoke of the enthusiasm with which it was received at the late 
Peace Jubilee when the English Royal Grenadier Band played the tune. Rear- 
Admiral Thatcher, being called upon by the president, expressed briefly his gratifi- 
cation and interest in the occasion. 

Col. A. II. Hoyt then offered the following resolutions, which were adopted : 

Resolved, That the society has good reason to congratulate itself that it has the 
honor and pleasure of the presence on this occasion of Miss Sarah Smith Stafford, of 
Trenton, N. J., and Mrs. Win. Stuart Appleton of New York, representatives' of 
the victors in two memorable battles, — one on the sea in 1779, during the revolu- 
tionary war, theother on the land, during the " war of 1812," — in both of which 
a victory was gained over a foreign enemy. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the society be presented to Miss Stafford, Mrs. Ap- 
pleton and to Mr. Horatio G. Quincy of Portland, Me., for permitting the cele- 
brated battle-flags in their possession to be publicly exhibited in the Society's House 
this day. 

Resolved, further, That the thanks of the society be presented to Capt. George 
Henry Preble, U. S. N., for his successful efforts to bring together these interesting 
relics of our national valor, and for his valuable essay on their history, and his ac* 
count of the brilliant events they commemorate. 

Resolved, also, That Capt. Preble be requested to furnish a copy of his essay for 
the society's archives. 

After further business the meeting was adjourned, when all present were intro- 
duced, by President Wilder, to the ladies upon the platform, representatives and 
descendants of the defenders of the flags. 



